Standoff Shuts Down PCH After Man Assaults Lifeguard With Metal Rod: Police

SANTA MONICA, CA — A homeless man was arrested Monday after jumping from the roof of a lifeguard tower, assaulting a lifeguard with a metal rod and running to the bluffs above Pacific Coast Highway, where he staged a standoff with police that shut down the highway, according to the Santa Monica Police Department.

The 38-year-old man, Michael Vincent Parrett, jumped from the roof of Santa Monica Beach's Lifeguard Tower 12, approached a lifeguard with a metal rod and thrusted it toward him several times Monday at around 11 a.m. The lifeguard was able to dodge the assault and was not injured, police said.

Officers located Parrett on the 400 block of Palisades Beach Road, where he began running on the sidewalk after officers ordered him to stop. He approached multiple bystanders while holding the rod, police said.

Parrett ran onto the bluffs above PCH, prompting police to shut down the highway in both directions out of concern that the man could fall onto the road, police said.

Parrett told officers "he would not give up without a fight," prompting police to call the crisis negotiations team. Negotiators talked unsuccessfully with Parrett for over 90 minutes before he told officers they would need to shoot him before he gave up, police said.

"Officers attempted to use less than lethal means to have the suspect drop the rod and surrender. He continued to maintain control of the weapon, refusing to drop it. Ultimately, Parrett was taken into custody with the assistance of a department K9," reads an SMPD statement.

Parrett was transported to a local hospital for evaluation before being booked at the Santa Monica Jail on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to inflict great bodily injury, police said.